Best leads No. 10 Cal past E Wash. 59-7

Sep 15, 2009 - 9:38 PM
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer

BERKELEY, Calif.(AP) -- Eastern Washington managed to hang close
with No. 10 California for one quarter. Then the bigger, faster,
more talented Golden Bears took over and turned the game into
the mismatch it was supposed to be.

Jahvid Best rushed for 144 yards and scored two touchdowns to
make sure California avoided a letdown against Eastern
Washington with a 59-7 victory Saturday.

Best caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Riley in the
first half and scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter,
turning a 10-point lead into a blowout. Riley also ran for a
touchdown and Shane Vereen had three short TD runs as Cal (2-0)
posted its second straight blowout to open the season.

"After the first half we were a little dissatisfied with
ourselves and the way we had came out," Vereen said. "So we
really wanted to start fast in the third quarter and see where
it took us. We definitely feel better about the second half. I
think we came out with a little bit more focus and
determination."

The Bears scored the final 52 points after the game was tied at
7 after the first quarter. They ran for 342 yards, didn't turn
the ball over for a second straight week and completely
overwhelmed the Eagles (1-1).

After starting off with a 52-13 victory over a Maryland team
that handed the Bears their first loss last season, Cal remained
focused against a Football Championship Subdivision team. The
Bears were especially pleased with how they played in the second
half, giving up 42 yards and no points.

"We were up but we weren't really satisfied," safety Brett
Johnson said. "We were making a lot of mistakes. It could have
been a much bigger score at that point. So we wanted to focus on
what we did wrong in the first half and come out with a
different mentality in the third quarter."

The schedule gets tougher for Cal beginning with a trip to
Minnesota next week. The Bears then open the Pac-10 season the
following week at Oregon before hosting No. 3 Southern
California on Oct. 3 in what should be a showdown between the
conference's top two teams.

Best should be well-rested considering he's only had to carry
the ball 27 times the first two games. That hasn't limited his
production much - he has run for 281 yards and scored four
touchdowns.

He almost had one of his now-routine lengthy runs late in the
first quarter but he stepped on the sideline to turn a 75-yard
touchdown into a 30-yard gain. His biggest highlight came on a
broken play. With Riley being pulled down by a defender, the
quarterback one-hopped the ball to Best well behind the line of
scrimmage.

Best turned a would-be sack into a 15-yard gain on his final
carry of the game. Riley thought the pass was forward and should
have been an incompletion, but was pleased with the heads-up
play by Best.

"I didn't hear a whistle so I picked it up and ran with it,"
Best said.

Three plays later, Vereen scored his second touchdown to make it
38-7.

Best's other highlight came when he beat linebacker J.C. Sheritt
and easily got open on the 22-yard touchdown catch that gave the
Bears a 24-7 lead.

Knowing his team was overmatched, Eastern Washington coach Beau
Baldwin twice went for it on fourth-and-short in his own
territory in the first 35 minutes only to be stopped, leading to
Cal touchdowns. In the second quarter, Matt Nichols threw an
incompletion on fourth-and-1 from his 38. Eastern Washington was
then stopped on fourth-and-1 from its 42 in the third quarter.

"They were the most complete team I'd ever seen on film,"
Baldwin said. "They're big up front, they're fast on defense.
They just do everything right."

The Eagles nearly upset an FBS team last season before giving up
two late touchdowns in a 31-24 loss at Colorado. This game
didn't get off to such a good start for Eastern Washington, when
returner J.T. Leggin slipped at the 6-yard line on the opening
kick.

Nichols was sacked on the first play, and after a punt, Cal took
over on the Eagles 35. Four plays later, it was 7-0 on a 1-yard
keeper by Riley.

But instead of portending a blowout, the Eagles held with the
Bears for the first quarter. Nichols completed eight of his
first nine passes, beating Cal star cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson
on a 36-yard pass to Aaron Boyce and throwing a 4-yard TD to
Grant Williams to tie the score. But that would be the last
score for the Eagles.

"We kind of gave them a scare in that first half, and showed
them we were here to play," said Nichols, who was 23 for 31 for
195 yards. "We came down to win a football game, and if one or
two plays go our way, we go into halftime with a little bit
better score."